


Seas Freeze Over

by coltinourstars



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Courtship, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Quite Enemies to Lovers, background andy/quynh, but just pride and prejudice vibes, but not not enemies to lovers, i cannot directly point to which part of this is pride and prejudice inspired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coltinourstars/pseuds/coltinourstars
Summary: The Prince of Tunis travels to Genova for a courtship with the King. This does not go well.Before meeting Nicky, Joe had a developed a slightly massive crush on him and could not wait to meet him. After meeting Nicky, Joe was certain he would be happy to never see the man again if Joe was not basically staying in his house for 3 months.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 100





	1. Second Impressions Last

**Author's Note:**

> This work is inspired by all of [Sixthlight's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixthlight/works) incredible Historical/Royalty AUs which I cannot recommend enough. It is also somehow inspired by Pride and Prejudice if something can be inspired in just a "general sort of vibe" way.

Joe stood at the stern of the ship watching as his hometown slowly grew smaller in the distance. Nile and Quynh had been standing beside him, waving goodbye as the ship left port, but had since decided to settle inside and escape the breeze off the sea. No one had bothered him for a little while. He was not sure if the ship’s crew were leaving him to his thoughts, perhaps worried that he was mourning leaving his city behind or growing increasingly apprehensive about what was to come. 

If anything, Joe was getting more excited. He had been more on board with this idea than anyone, possibly including himself, had expected. When his parents had come to him to ask if he would be willing to travel overseas for a courtship, he had said yes initially mostly out of an obligation. He had known this would be coming for a while. His eldest sister was ready to step up as queen as soon as his mother decided she would retire and his second eldest sister already had two children. Joe knew his contribution to the family would more likely lie in creating a useful alliance through marriage than any other contribution as the now fifth in line to the throne. And at least he was not being immediately married off to someone he did not know. As was customary, he would travel to this new land for three months, to court and be courted by his prospective future spouse before one of them could decide to propose and the other could choose to accept. Whilst returning home in three months time unwed was not a particularly appealing prospect in terms of the possible teasing from his sisters, it meant he did not have to worry about being tied to someone he did not like. He had also been fairly sure that he did not have to worry about that as soon as his parents mentioned who he would be courting. 

Joe did not think it was possible to be in love with someone you had never met. He protested strongly when Nile even called his interest in the new King of Genova, a “crush”. But Joe could not deny that he had only heard good things about the man. Nicky’s coronation had been something of a rush after his father died. He was the second son who had not been expected to inherit the throne until his elder brother passed away a few years before. As such, there had been rumours about cousins or other family who it was feared may try to stake a right to the throne if it was not occupied as quickly as possible. The short period had not allowed anyone from kingdoms more than a day’s travel from Genova to be in attendance and Joe’s parents had instead sent Nile a few weeks later with their good wishes and offers of any assistance that Tunis could offer. 

Nile had been heavily involved with the bookkeeping of Tunis before taking on the role of Joe’s right-hand woman (Nile insisted the role was called Chief Advisor and objected when Joe introduced her as “Nile, she knows far more than me and so tells me what to do”). Her assistance had been greatly appreciated by the new king with him having inherited Genova in a slightly chaotic state. By Nile’s reporting it seemed that the previous king’s declining health and devastation at the loss of his eldest son had meant that records and reports had been increasingly forgotten in the final years of his reign. Nicky had wanted to ensure all was in order and had, according to her, been very appreciative of Nile’s help in the matter. He seemed particularly concerned with ensuring that no one had been overcharged the tax they owed due to the disorder, but also that any who had tried to take advantage of the bookkeeping predicament had paid their fair share. When the final budgets and ledgers had been produced, he had set about using Nile’s assistance to find ways to fund projects which had been languishing. Just before Nile had left, he had set about trying to establish a school using a large part of the palace which was currently unoccupied. 

Nile had returned to Tunis with great stories of the new king’s patience, kindness and hard work. Joe had heard her say many times that the king would not take his leave to head to bed if the bookkeepers or advisors were still working. He was willing to listen to all opinions but also quick to dismiss those that would see taxes raised for the poorest. When Joe had asked for more stories of the new king, Nile had told him how Nicky knew the name of every person who worked in the palace. 

“He once arrived late to a meeting because he had been to the kitchens to wish the cook a happy birthday. He had told her to go home and he would make himself something for dinner and she had refused. He said he had not been expecting her to protest so much and had to show her that he was capable of finding things in the kitchen before she was content that he would not starve that evening if she was to go home.” 

Joe thought his continued questions about the new king was him taking an interest in the important affairs of strategic kingdoms just across the sea. Nile considered it to be more than a casual interest in the king, leading to her previously mentioned “crush” comment. 

At that point, however, Joe had not been aware that there were additional discussions about Nicky going on that Joe was not a party to, although he also featured in them heavily. Whilst Nile’s assistance in helping to ensure that the new king’s accession ran smoothly, it had been suggested to her that a further way Tunis could offer assistance was in providing a way to strengthen the alliance between their two kingdoms. An alliance with Tunis would improve Genova’s position in the surrounding seas and knowledge that Tunis fully supported the new king would likely silence any remaining grumblings from other prospective claims to the throne. Nile had returned to Tunis with an offer of a courtship between the new King of Genova and the Prince of Tunis which she presented to the Queen and Consort. 

It was then a few days after Nile’s return that Joe had been asked to meet with his parents in his mother’s office. He had been slightly on edge before the meeting, knowing it would be about business as otherwise his parents would have asked to meet in their private living quarters or simply brought up the matter at dinner. His parents had presented him with the options to attend this courtship and, with their blessing and hope for its success, he had agreed. The arrangements had then been swiftly made for him and Nile to leave for Genova the following month. 

It had not initially been planned for Quynh to accompany them. 

Although not technically related to him by blood, Joe considered Quynh to be just as much his sister as if she were. Quynh’s parents had been nobles who had travelled to Tunis long before she was born to help establish trade links with their kingdom. Having settled in Tunis and become firm friends with the Queen and Consort, they had felt no reason to leave once those links had been established and their newly born daughter had grown familiar with the place. When they had tragically passed away in an accident shortly after Quynh’s third birthday and no close family could be found who wished to take her in, Joe’s parents had decided to raise her as part of their family. Being only seven when she came to live with them, Joe could barely remember a time when she had not been his family. Quynh could often be found following Joe around as a child and as they had grown their many shared passions, particularly for the arts, had led to them continuing to spend much time together. 

When the news that Joe would be leaving, for a period of three months to possibly, hopefully, much longer, Quynh had been unable to hide her sadness. Joe had sought to comfort her with insistences that he would write and she could visit. His mother had been unable to watch both her children’s sadness, however well Joe thought he was hiding it, and suggested that Quynh accompany him, at least initially. Although it may have just been an excuse, strengthening her knowledge of trade and familiarity with other royals would be useful for any future role Quynh would play in Tunis. As Joe was staying for three months and would be a guest of the Kingdom of Genova it was not expected that he would take any staff beyond his advisor with him. Joe was comforted by the prospect of having an additional person he knew around him, particularly one he valued as much as his sister. 

The journey to Genova was going smoothly and on track to last only a few days if the weather stayed calm. Joe and Nile had arranged to have breakfast in Joe’s room of the ship to go over any background or useful protocol to know for this new kingdom. Nile had decided that the best way to prepare for this was for her to prepare a series of pieces of paper with clues on one side and answers on the other which she was using to quiz Joe. 

Quynh entered the cabin, having clearly just woken up, and sat down at the table with breakfast and paper strewn across. Picking up one piece, which contained the names of Genova’s previous few kings, she asked, “Are you discussing the new king?” 

“If Joe had his way” Nile grinned. “We are reviewing the important information to know before we arrive if you would like to join in our discussion.” 

“I think I am fine, thank you” Quynh replied. 

“Then why are you here?” Joe asked. 

“They said this was where breakfast was” Nile replied, reaching out to take a plate and beginning to add food to it. 

“This is where our breakfast is certainly” Joe replied, reaching out to take a piece of bread directly from Quynh’s plate, “but I do not think it is where breakfast is for those who do not wish to contribute to the discussion.” 

“I was willing to join the discussion about the new king” Quynh retorted. “I hear he is good with a sword.” 

Joe had not heard this mentioned by Nile so turned to her with a questioning glance. Nile shrugged. 

“I did not know that.” She replied. “I think I have told you everything that I know of the new king by now.” 

“The head of his guard told me” Quynh replied. 

Joe’s eyes narrowed in confusion “And how do you know the head of the guard of Genova?”

“She came to visit about a year or so ago. Whilst you and Nile were journeying to attempt to negotiate with Algiers. She was about to be promoted and decided to travel around a few kingdoms to see if there were any new skills she could learn from them” Quynh explained. “She was with us for a few weeks and we stayed in touch writing since then. When I heard that you were to be courting the king of Genova, I wrote to ask her about him. I could hardly let my brother go off to be married to some man I know nothing about. If it was anything useful, I was planning to tell you but she simply wrote back that he was good with a sword but better with a bow and arrow. Her letters are… not always as long as they could be.”

“Or particularly helpful” Joe muttered. 

“But nonetheless you can both find out more for yourselves when we arrive later” Nile answered, reaching for another card. 

Joe was back on the deck of the ship to watch as they docked in the port of Genova. The colourful houses rose up from the water against the backdrop of luscious green trees. The whole harbour was full of noise with work being done to several ships and smaller boats coming and going. Joe watched fishermen bring in the day’s catch as the gangplank was laid down. A slightly dishevelled looking man appeared at the bottom, looking up at the ship expectantly. Nile rushed down the gangplank to embrace the man who gave her a small smile. 

Once Joe and Quynh had joined them on solid land, Nile introduced them, “Joe, Quynh this is Booker, one of the King’s advisors.”

“Please call me Sebastian.” the man replied, sounding almost pleading. Nile simply laughed at him and took the man’s arm to walk the two of them towards the city with Joe and Quynh following behind. 

Near the exit of the port of the city, two men stood speaking to each other. The man facing towards them appeared to laugh at something his companion had said. Although the laugh was not loud enough to be heard over the noise around them, Joe could still see the amusement light up the man’s, admittedly very attractive face. Joe noticed the small creases of laughter at the corner of the man’s eyes before being confronted with beautiful green eyes as the man’s gaze met his. Joe was reminded of the sea he had spent days looking out over on their journey, deep and almost a mix of colours as the clouds passed overhead. The joy in the man’s eyes seemed to be the sun glancing off the sea’s waves. Joe barely resisted the temptation to turn around to look back at the man as their group continued to walk past. 

They had just walked out of sight of the two when Nile hung back from Booker to fall into step beside Joe. “I see you have already caught the eye of the king” she joked. Nile laughed as Joe quickly spun around but found a wall blocking his view back to the harbour. 

The palace was fortunately not too far into the city, maintaining a tactical position looking out over the harbour. Once inside, they were led to their new quarters in a quiet, secluded wing of the palace. The door to the quarters was directly off one side of the covered corridor which looked down over one of the smaller courtyards that Joe had seen on their brief journey through the palace. The quarters contained a large central room in which they could receive guests and had several other private rooms coming off, including a study and bedrooms for each of them. 

“It is tradition for the Court and King to receive you all after you have arrived but the King thought you might like some time to settle in beforehand” Booker told them. “If it is acceptable to you, they will meet you in the throne room in two hours.” 

“Thank you.” Nile nodded in agreement and Booker bowed slightly before taking his leave. 

Having taken the time to settled into their rooms, with the assistance of servants who had already begun bringing their items up from the ship, the three reunited in the central area just before the two hours had passed. Joe was ready to head for the door when Nile stepped in front of him and held up a formal coat. Whilst the coat was beautiful, with fine, intricately sewn details, Joe’s childhood standing uncomfortably wearing similarly starched materials led to him attempting to rush past her. 

“You have to wear this,” Nile stated, attempting to look stern whilst clearly amused by Joe’s childish behaviour. 

“I refuse to,” Joe responded, trying to sidestep around her but not being fast enough. 

“It is expected,” Nile said, choosing to emphasise this by thrusting the coat towards him. 

Joe adopted a fighting stance in front of Nile. “We are no longer in Tunis; are you going to make me?” 

“I will not. But there are others that might.” Nile replied, nodding behind him. Joe had been so focused on Nile that he had not paid attention to Quynh sneaking up behind him and grabbing him by the waist to hold him in place. Unable to fight back due to his laughter, Joe was soon wearing the hated coat, which may have been more comfortable than he would want to admit, and they were ready for their introduction to the King. 

The throne room was a grand, marble floored room, not large enough to hold a ball in but more than fitting for its purpose of receiving guests and petitions to the king. At the other end to where they had entered, the King and a few members of the court stood waiting to greet them. As was custom, the King stood in the centre in front of the throne with a few on either side of him. Booker stood to one side, looking slightly bored with the proceedings. At the opposite side of the group, a lady dressed in a dark uniform also worn by other guards appeared to wink towards Quynh as they approached. 

The approaching three stopped at a short distance and a page proclaimed the names of each of the people in the room. Nicky turned slightly to smile at Nile when her name was called but, despite looking towards Joe at his name, Joe did not appear to be rewarded with sharing the same warm gaze that they shared down at the harbour. 

Once introductions were over, the formal arrangements slowly dissolved. Quynh stepped away from his right to approach the lady who had been introduced as Andy. Nile walked left towards the group Booker appeared to be part of. 

Joe felt slightly like the seas had parted to lead him to Nicky who now stood slightly apart from the others in front of Joe. Trying to show his warmed smile, Joe approached. 

Up close the man was even more handsome than Joe had even dreamed to expect. From Nile’s description of his interest in books, Joe had presumed that the man had perhaps devoted himself more to study than to action. However, the finely tailored cut of his shirt demonstrated that that was not the case, seemingly designed to highlight the strong lines of his shoulders and arms. Joe was sure that given how beautiful Nicky was, it should have been the first thing Nile mentioned when discussing him. He wondered how anyone could talk about Nicky for more than a few moments, as Nile had done at Joe’s request, and not see it fit to discuss the rich colour of his eyes or distinguished features of his face. 

The two stood in silence for a few heartbeats. Joe could not quite seem to make his brain stop thinking of how he would capture Nicky’s face with charcoal long enough to begin the conversation. Although clearly trying to hide it, Nicky’s slight twitch of his fingers appeared to betray his increasing discomfort at the silence and any linger warmth had appeared to seep out of Nicky’s eyes as Joe approached. 

Nicky coughed. “How do you like Genova?” he asked. 

“It is…” Joe had seen very little of the kingdom so far on his walk from the ship to the palace and so felt his answer may be influenced by the man before him. Joe smiled slightly “… not quite what I expected.” 

Nicky seemed to consider this before nodding, “Well at least you will be leaving soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise that this chapter is mostly set-up but I hope you enjoyed it and I can promise than the next chapter contains mostly confused pining. 
> 
> (Also I am sorry for the complete lack of anything resembling attempts at historical accuracy. The History classes I took at college are for decoration only.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "But it will be fine” he sought to reassure her, “I imagine I will not be seeing the King much.” 
> 
> “You are to have a private dinner together this evening”

“Well at least you will be leaving soon.”

Joe had simply stared at Nicky following his words. Joe could not think of a single thing to say. Anything he had previously been intending to follow up the comment with, maybe “but I look forward to seeing more of the city… and you”, had vanished from his mind. Joe was not sure if Nicky had interpreted his silence as agreement. Nicky had simply given a strained smile and bowed slightly before walking away to speak with someone else. 

For the rest of the greetings, Joe felt almost like he was viewing the conversations from the other side of frosted glass. He could vaguely hear himself using his sessions covering who everyone was with Nile to find questions to ask. His mother had once told him that the best advice for meeting new people was that everyone liked to talk about themselves. He was glad he had that to fall back on as he was mostly focusing on desperately trying to work out what Nicky meant by his comment. 

His sister had politely stolen him away from a conversation with a high ranking politician in Genova to introduce him to Andy. Andy had been telling him how much she had enjoyed visiting Tunis previously before having to leave to take over a guard shift. Joe had then tried to listen to the discussion he was having with Sebastian but found his eyes repeatedly drawn to the conversation Nicky and Nile were having on the other side of the room. 

“Well at least you will be leaving soon.”

Joe could barely think of anything else by the time they had returned to their chambers following the formal introductions.

As soon as he had taken off his jacket, he collapsed onto one of the sofas in the central area, lying back with his hands over his eyes. If he let out a loud sigh, well his mother always said he had a flair for the dramatic. 

He felt Quynh sit down by his feet and could tell from the sounds that Nile had sat down in the chair next to them. 

“The King is an utter dick” Joe proclaimed, not even bothering to raise his hands from covering his face. 

“Your conversation appeared quite short” Nile replied diplomatically. 

“It does not take someone very long to say that they are looking forward to you leaving” Joe retorted. 

He felt more than heard Quynh sigh next to him “Maybe you misinterpreted his meaning” 

“He said ‘Well at least you will be leaving soon.’ so I am not sure that I did” Joe lifted his head to look pointedly at her, flinging his arms out to the sides. 

“I am sure there is some explanation.” Quynh replied. “You also spoke to him, Nile? Please tell my brother that he is being ridiculous.” 

“He… told me that he wasn’t going to marry you” Nile said, slightly cautiously, as she turned towards Joe. 

“I think he has made that fairly clear” Joe scoffed. 

“But… it seemed off.” Nile explained. She spoke slowly as if she was also trying to figure it out. “He seemed almost sad about it.” 

“I’m sure he feels terrible” Joe said sarcastically.

“If that is his opinion, must we stay for the next three months?” Quynh asked. 

Joe leant forward to take his sister’s hand and pat it in gratitude. “It is a nice thought. But us leaving would be seen as an insult from Tunis to all of Genova. But it will be fine” he sought to reassure her, “I imagine I will not be seeing the King much.” 

“You are to have a private dinner together this evening” Nile informed him. Joe groaned as he flopped back onto the sofa. 

Joe had once been asked to attend a formal dinner as a stand in for his parents where he was told five minutes before that he would be expected to speak and also warned that none of their guests spoke his language and themselves spoke a regional dialect he had never heard of. The person conveying this message also warned him that using a spoon in the wrong hand was considered an insult in their guests’ culture and it was definitely either the right or left hand that was the wrong one but they could not remember which. And yet Joe felt he could honestly say that he had never looked forward to a dinner less than the one with Nicky. 

He was shown into a small, private dining room. Nicky stood up from the table to bow to him as Joe was led to sit down at the table opposite. Joe had been slightly worried that the formality of the occasion would call for some long table that would see the two of them seated about 3 metres away from each other at opposite ends. He was pleased to see that the table, normally sized for two people, was set out for a dinner as informal as one could be when eating with a king. However, the proximity unfortunately allowed him to appreciate the King in the light of the candles on the table. The lighting cast shadows over his already handsome face, making his features even more distinguished. Joe was almost annoyed that his heart seemed to skip when the two made eye contact and he saw how the glow of the candles played in the greens of Nicky’s eyes. 

Joe began lamenting the lack of a larger table. A larger table would have given them an excuse for not speaking to each other. Having to shout over a large distance would have prevented the silence from feeling uncomfortable. With the two of them seated close, the silence stretched on awkwardly. 

Not that Joe was feeling particularly inclined to rectify that. Once Joe had sat down and a server had stepped forward to pour him a drink, Nicky had raised his glass to Joe and stated “It is an honour to have you with us.” 

“Thank you” Joe replied simply, raising his glass in return. He could almost hear his mother, or even Nile, chastising him for not replying with some sort of comment that it was an honour to be there. Joe, however, decided that, as that would be a lie directly to the king, his mother might forgive him. If anything, he felt he deserved some sort of commendation as he managed to respond with words rather than simply scoffing at the notion that the King was happy for him to be there. 

Nicky appeared to be content with his response and so the two remained in silence whilst servers brought in the starters of soup. Eating provided a further excuse for not responding and the two barely glanced up at each other until they had finished. 

Once the starter dishes had been removed, Joe began to look around the room they were in, in an attempt to avoid any interactions with the man before him. There were a few paintings on the walls he could not fully make out in the lighting and little else he could pretend to be transfixed by. When he occasionally glanced back at Nicky, the King’s eyes seemed to immediately jump to anywhere other than Joe’s face. 

The silence stretched on. 

Even if he had wanted to speak to Nicky, he was not sure what he would say. Any questions about Genova would just remind him of the time limit he had for spending in the city and he did not feel compelled to learn more about the King himself. Joe instead began to wonder whether he could find some excuse to leave. Maybe he could suddenly start to feel unwell during the next course and make his excuses before dessert. He was so focused on trying to concoct an introduction for the headache he was sure was about to come on that he almost missed Nicky speaking to him. 

“We are very grateful Nile was able to visit us earlier this year” Nicky said. 

Joe did not feel particularly inclined to keep a conversation going with Nicky. However, talking to anyone about Nile being wonderful was something Joe was always happy to do, even if he did not particularly want to be talking to this person about anything. “She is excellent at bookkeeping. I was very surprised our officials were willing for me to take her away from it to be my advisor but I am glad that they did.” 

“I am not sure what we would have done without her. Certainly many things that already in place would not be if she had not helped.” Nicky informed him, “I was not expecting to be able to establish the school for many months but thanks to Nile we welcomed the first children a few weeks ago.” 

Joe was glad that Nicky had kind words to say about Nile. Maybe he would next speak well of Quynh to make it clear that it was just Joe that he disliked from their party. 

Nicky looked keen to continue to speak on the topic. It was a charitable thing to have done and perhaps Nicky wanted to make sure to emphasis how important his good deeds were, Joe thought to himself. “The west wing of the palace had been unused for many years and the other schools in the city had been struggling to cope with the number of children so it made sense to let them use it. I am just one person and hardly need all of this room.” Nicky told him. Joe was not sure if Nicky was making a snide reference to how he would not be adding to the palace’s inhabitants any time soon. Nicky continued, “I do hope they do not annoy you. The children can be… rather loud at times.”

Joe felt offended that Nicky thought the presence of children would be such a problem for him. Although fewer children than a whole school, his sister’s children had been a welcome addition to the palace back home. “Well I have two nephews so as long as none of these children are also going to draw on my face whilst I am sleeping and then not warn me of this before I attend a meeting with visiting diplomats, I doubt I will have reason to be annoyed at them.” 

Nicky let out a small laugh and then seemed to try to cover it with a cough. Joe could still see the small smile on his face as he tried to hide by looking down at his plate. 

They fell back into silence as the main course was brought out. When Joe looked up from his meal and met Nicky’s eyes, Joe thought he could almost make out a smile creasing the corners of his eyes. 

The lack of gap between the main course and dessert prevented them from having to resume any conversation. When the dessert was placed in front of him, Joe was immediately very glad he had not come up with an excuse to skip dessert. He practically moaned out loud as he tasted the first spoonful of the layered dessert. 

The dimness of the room did nothing to hide the blush that grew over Nicky’s cheeks. Nicky reach for his glass and seemed to gulp down some water. 

“I am glad you like it” Nicky said, placing his glass back down. “Our cook is particularly adept at desserts. It is rare that I actually get to see them as it seems most of the time Andy gets to them before they can even leave the kitchen.” 

“Well I am glad this one got past her” Joe replied, barely moving his eyes from looking longingly at the dessert. Maybe three months in this place would not be so bad, he thought to himself, if he could expect more desserts like this. Even though it was a terrible idea, he would happily go up against the king’s head of the guard to be able to get his own portion. 

Joe was smiling contentedly by the time their final dishes were taken away. Joe ensured to tell the servant collecting them to pass on his thanks to the cook, particularly for dessert. 

Nicky stood as soon as the table was cleared “I will not take up any more of your time. Thank you for joining me this evening.” 

“Thank you for the meal” Joe responded. Even if nothing the King had said had endeared him any further to Joe, Joe was still grateful for the excellent meal. 

Joe walked back to his room slowly, preparing for the onslaught on questions from his sister and Nile when he returned. The King had not seemed as dismissive as earlier that day. At least the two of them had spoken more than a sentence to each other. They had not spoken about the actual reason for Joe being in Genova but Joe had not felt inclined to bring it up just to be rejected again. But it had been… fine, he thought to himself. He would tell Nile and Quynh that the King had been polite, if cold. The King had also been as handsome if not more so than earlier that day, particularly when he smiled, but Joe would not be telling anyone that and was almost angry about admitting it to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kind comments and kudos on the last chapter! I am sorry that this chapter changed a little from what I originally intended as I decided to focus more on the dinner and separate it out from the next few events coming up!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living in the same place involves running into each other, even if that place is a palace.

Every morning, breakfast was brought to them in their rooms and Joe enjoyed the time with Nile and Quynh before the start of the day. Once they had all eaten they would often split off, by themselves or into smaller groups. Nile was occasionally co-opted by various officials, including Sebastian, asking for further assistance with bookkeeping matters or general queries. Joe supposed he could, and possibly should, accompany her on some of these endeavours but had not felt particularly inclined to learn too much about the status of Genova beyond what would be useful to take back with him when he left. Quynh had been spending a large amount of time with Andy, who had taken it upon herself to show them around the palace and surrounding areas. Some days Joe would accompany them as they walked the streets of Genova. Andy’s knowledge of the city was vast, pointing out the spot of a dramatic crime and then important pieces of architecture and design in the same tone. Often when Andy was occupied, Joe and Quynh would find themselves a spot to sketch around the palace, with Nile joining them if she was not otherwise engaged. 

Joe had not heard from the King and had not felt the need to seek him out. 

Breakfast was also one of Joe’s favourite parts of the day as he was growing further attached to the baking of Genova. The tray brought to them was normally piled high with various pastries, fruits and treats, with the spread changing each day with seemingly no pattern. Joe had asked the servant collecting the tray to pass on compliments on the fruit stuffed bread that appeared one day and slices of it had made an appearance every morning since. 

One morning, when Nile and Quynh had plans for the day, Joe told Carlo, who was dropping off their breakfast, that he would be happy to return it to the kitchen himself later. He had had to explain that he wanted to thank the cook in person so would simply follow behind if Carlo insisted on doing it himself and it was a waste of time for both of them to go. 

After a few wrong turns, Joe finally pushed open the door into the kitchen. It was a large room, with the windows overlooking the kitchen garden bathing the room in the morning light. The heat of the large cooker was combated by a slight breeze from the open backdoor. An elderly woman was stirring something on the cooker and turned to smile at him as he entered. Her grey hair pulled back into a bun and bright pink apron marked her out as the cook, Francesca, who Andy had described to him. 

Joe was surprised to see the large kitchen table occupied. A chair had been drawn up to the opposite side from the cooker and Nicky was sat with his hands wrapped around a cup staring at a collection of papers laid out in front of him. Joe found himself unable to draw his eyes away from Nicky’s fingers encircling around the cup. Nicky let out a small cough and Joe quickly looked up, meeting the King’s gaze. Even if the slight bags under his eyes suggested that the King had not been getting as much sleep as he should, his eyes were still bright despite the morning hour. The warmth that had been present when Joe first caught a glimpse of Nicky’s eyes seemed to have returned. Joe was not sure how long he would have stood there if they had not been interrupted. 

“Ah Joe is it? You did not need to bring this down yourself” Francesca told him, moving over to take the tray from his arms. 

“It is not a hardship and I have been wanting to thank you for the delicious food for a while” Joe smiled, “Today in particular was exceptional.”

“It is not me that you have to thank for today. It was…” she turned to look towards the other end of the table, which was now suddenly unoccupied. The only sign that Nicky had ever been there was the door out to the kitchen garden swinging shut and a rinsed cup sitting next to the sink. “Somebody else” she finished. 

“Please also pass on my thanks to whoever it was. What is it you are making at the moment?” Joe nodded towards the pot on the cooker. 

“That is just some soup for later but I am about to start making some pastry for the pies. My assistant seems to be currently… unavailable so I would appreciate some help if you do not have other plans” she said whilst reaching below counters to collect an array of bowls and small sacks of ingredients. 

Joe spent the rest of the morning and a large part of the afternoon helping in the kitchen. Francesca shared explanations of the different steps that were being carried out for the recipes along with stories of her time in the palace. The King seemed to have lived away from the palace for a period as he did not feature in many of her earlier stories. However, since his return, Francesca had many good things to say, with some including more gentle mocking than Joe would have expected of a ruler. 

“…Now the King invited every one of the staff to attend his coronation ball but we all thought that it was just politeness and we should not actually attend. But then he set up a schedule so that even those who were working would be able to have time to enjoy it and, well, it would be rude not to go at that point.” Francesca was telling him as the two of them cut vegetables side by side. “So there I am, standing next to the Earl of wherever, and the King walks right over and tells me that the food is extraordinary and he had to dance with the most talented woman in the room. So we are walking towards the dance floor and that is when he decides to tell me that he is not a very proficient dancer. That may very well be true but I made it through relatively unscathed and I think that maybe he just needs the right dancing partner…” 

Joe eventually left with streaks of flour through his hair, a smile on his face and an offer of more work in the kitchen later that week as they would be making preserves.

It was a few days later that Joe found himself wandering the palace alone. With Quynh and Nile occupied, he was trying to find a place to sketch and possibly paint. He had been working from memory to try and capture the sea as it had appeared stretching out from the boat on their trip from Tunis. Although Joe was finding that any colour he mixed seemed to resemble a certain king’s eyes more closely than the seas. 

Whilst the rooms they had been provided had ample space, the location of the room and its windows meant that large shadows were cast over it for most of the day. Joe had spent several days trying various positions to capture the best of the light as it moved over the hours but had decided that maybe he needed to find somewhere else for today. 

The incessant light rain has ruled out his first choice of one of the small courtyards contained in the palace. 

Instead, he made his way to the large library Andy had shown them on one of her tours. Pushing open the doors, the room was almost perfect. Although there were rows of floor to ceiling shelves, these had been arranged to allow a large, open space by the windows which looked out over some the gardens. The result was a series of comfortable sofas free from shadows and perfect for sketching. 

The only flaw with the room was located on the sofas themselves. 

The King was sat with a book on the sofa nearest the window. Despite having ample space to stretch out, he seemed to be completed curled up, resting the open book on his knees. His hair was flopped forward covering his forehead. 

Joe was torn between wanting to stay as he had finally found the near perfect spot and not wanting to disturb, or interact, with the King. He took a small step back to possibly escape without being noticed, but the sudden, loud noise of the creaking floorboard in the silent room removed that possibility. 

Nicky looked up suddenly. It was only because Joe had been looking directly at him that Joe saw the slight smile reach Nicky’s eyes before his expression quickly became more closed off. Even though brief, the transformation the smile made to the King’s already handsome face made Joe’s stomach flip. 

Joe was trying to figure out what to say when the King stood and bowed slightly. 

“I apologise; I was not expecting anyone else to be in here” Nicky said, as though he was the one who had walked in. 

“I did not mean to disturb you.” Joe replied. “I will be on my way” he said, talking another step backwards towards the door. 

Nicky seemed about to take a step towards him but aborted the movement part way through. “No, please do not go on my account. I was supposed to be leaving shortly before Andy comes to chastise me for being late. You are, of course, welcome to use any of the rooms in the palace whilst you are staying here” the King’s speech appeared slightly more flustered than normal. 

Joe nodded his thanks before the King continued, gesturing vaguely to the books around them “Was there something you were hoping to find?” 

“I am afraid I was mostly looking for a place to draw at this moment” Joe said, raising the sketchbook under his arm in explanation. “The lighting in here is excellent.”

“Well then I would not want to interrupt you” Nicky replied although he made no attempt to move. 

The doors burst open, one loudly knocking into the table next to it. “Nicky, you son of a…” Andy was practically shouting before she walked into the room. She stopped short when catching sight of Joe and continued in a far more measured tone “…Your Highness, your meeting with the Chancellor is in fifteen minutes and you should probably head there now if you wish to look over the papers before it starts.” 

Joe noticed that Andy and Nicky share a pointed look before the King replied, “Your reminder is appreciated.” He made another small bow to Joe before leaving. After giving Joe a small smile, Andy followed Nicky out. Joe found a comfortable spot on one of the sofas and spent the afternoon sketching. If he was mostly drawing small smiles and graceful hands, well there was no one else there to see him. 

The following day brought Andy to their rooms shortly after breakfast. 

“I did not think we had plans today. I thought you were working?” Quynh remarked as Andy walked in. 

“I am working and am, in fact, here for your brother” Andy nodded towards Joe. 

“You are aware of how threatening you sound when you say words in that way, are you not?” Nile joked and grinned at Joe. Joe let out the breath he had not been aware he was holding. 

“It is for a good reason, I promise, if you would come with me” Andy stepped back towards the door. Joe stood up slightly hesitantly. “The others can come too if you are so concerned about it” Andy sighed. 

Andy led the three of them down a series of corridors to a series of rooms Joe did not remember from the tour. As they walked, Andy was telling them “Booker saw you wandering around yesterday apparently carrying art supplies and thought you might be looking for somewhere to work. Whilst we do not exactly have a studio here, this room is currently unoccupied and Booker said it might be suitable if you wished to use it.” 

Andy flung open two large doors to bring them all into a large room. The fact that it was mostly bare did little to conceal the room’s grand nature. The edges of the ceiling were decorated with intricate, gold-coloured leaves and vines. An ornate, marble fireplace formed part of one wall. Most perfect of all was the large bay window that let in light, making the room bright and cheerful without the lighting being harsh. 

Joe began to take few steps around. A number of large items of furniture had been moved to the side with sheets covering them but there were a few different seats scattered around the room, including a chaise longue set in the perfect spot in the curve of the window. 

“Are you sure no one will mind that we are in here?” Nile asked, gazing in awe at the room. 

“Not at all. This room has not been used for its intended purpose so it would be nice for someone to be using it” Andy shrugged. 

“It is perfect, please pass on my thanks to Booker” Joe said, barely containing his grin as he spun around to face her. 

Andy looked at Joe intensely and Joe felt as if he was taking some sort of test, which he was not sure he was passing. “I will pass on your thanks” she said, not taking her eyes away from Joe. Then Quynh grabbed his hand to spin him around the room with her and the test was over, or at least postponed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter (and hopefully the next one will be up more promptly than this one was - which I am very sorry about!) Thank you for reading!


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